Pianist Cristina Valdés performs Charles Ives’ monumental Concord Sonata and Arnold Schoenberg’s Three Pieces Op. 11 and his Six Little Piano Pieces Op. 19 in observance of the 150th birthday of these two iconic composers. With Rachel Reyes, flute.
Program
I. Mässige
II. Mässige
III. Bewegte
Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 (1911) - Arnold Schoenberg
I. Leicht, zart
II. Sehr langsame
IV. Rasch, aber leicht
V. Etwas rasch
VI. Sehr langsam
II. "Hawthorne"
III. "The Alcotts"
IV. "Thoreau"
Notes
2024 marks the 150th birthday of two of the most important and innovative composers of the 20th century: Arnold Schoenberg and Charles Ives. Though their styles and philosophies were quite different from one another, their search for new modes of expression pushed the established boundaries of musical language and changed the landscape of classical music.
Schoenberg’s quest for “musical prose” led him to abandon tonality as a way to more effectively depict the complexities of the human experience. Removing all constraints became the way for him to achieve the utmost human expression. Ives, however, chose the path of looking back to tradition and incorporating the use of hymns and popular tunes in his concert music, and choosing compositional forms such as the tone poem, which was distinctly Romantic. Despite incorporating more traditional elements in his music, Ives was revolutionary in his use of polytonality and avant-garde techniques such as quarter tones, tone clusters, and polyrhythms. Like Schoenberg, dissonance was a way for Ives to express the complexity and depth of human emotions.
The pieces chosen for tonight’s concert are some of their most well-known works, and also just happen to be my favorites! They are works which showcase the unique sound world of each composer, and highlight what an exciting time the early twentieth century was for musical innovation.
Biography
Pianist Cristina Valdés presents innovative concerts of standard and experimental repertoire, and is known to “play a mean piano.” A fierce advocate for new music, she has premiered countless works, including many written for her. She has performed across four continents and in venues such as Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, Miller Theatre, Jordan Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Ms. Valdés has appeared both as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals worldwide including New Music in Miami, the Foro Internacional de Música Nueva in Mexico City, Brisbane Arts Festival, the Festival of Contemporary Music in El Salvador, Havana Contemporary Music Festival, and the Singapore Arts Festival.
An avid chamber musician and collaborator, Ms. Valdés has toured extensively with the Bang On a Can “All Stars”, and has performed with the Seattle Chamber Players, the Mabou Mines Theater Company, the Parsons Dance Company, and Antares. Her performances on both the Seattle Symphony’s Chamber Series and [UNTITLED] concerts have garnered critical acclaim, including her “knockout” (Seattle Times) performance of Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and her “arrestingly eloquent performance” of Dutilleux’s Trois Preludes (Bernard Jacobson/MusicWeb International).
Ms. Valdés has appeared as concerto soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, NOCCO, Philharmonia Northwest, the Eastman BroadBand, and the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. In 2015 she performed the piano solo part of the Ives 4th Symphony with the Seattle Symphony under the direction of Ludovic Morlot, which was later released on CD to critical acclaim and made Gramophone’s list of Top 10 Ives Recordings. Other recent recordings include Orlando Garcia’s “From Darkness to Luminosity” with the Málaga Philharmonic on the Toccata Classics label, and the world premiere recording of Kotoka Suzuki’s “Shimmer, Tree | In Memoriam Jonathan Harvey”. She can also be heard on the Albany, Newport Classics, Urtext, and Ideologic Organ labels.
In recent seasons she gave performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the world-premiere performance of Carlos Sanchez-Guttierez’s “Short Stories” for piano and string orchestra with the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the U.S. Premiere of “Under Construction” for solo piano and tape playback by Heiner Goebbels at Benaroya Hall. Last season she was the featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony on two of their “[untitled]” new music series concerts.
Ms. Valdés received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook. She currently lives in Seattle where she founded the SLAM Festival, a new music festival dedicated to the music of Latin-American composers, and performs regularly as a member of the Seattle Modern Orchestra. She is an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Washington, and is the Director of the UW Modern Music Ensemble.
Rachel Reyes (she/her) is a Filipino-American flutist and educator residing in Snohomish, WA. She is passionate about performing works by living composers and lesser known works from Asia. Her musical successes include winning the 2024 University of Washington Concerto Competition, 2023 National Flute Association Masterclass Competition, 2022 Arizona Flute Society Graduate/Professional Competition, and 2022 Sewanee Summer Music Festival Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition. Rachel has spent summers at the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Brevard Music Institute, and ARIA International Summer Music Academy.
Recent performances include the Otaka Concerto for flute and orchestra with the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she has performed the Hue Fantaisie for flute and orchestra with the Sewanee Festival Orchestra and the Doppler Andante et Rondo concerto with Professor Donna Shin and the University of Washington Wind Ensemble. Rachel has premiered works with the University of Washington Modern Music Ensemble and in various chamber music performances in Washington, Arizona, North Carolina, and New York. Additionally, Reyes has performed alongside the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Modern Orchestra, and Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra.
Reyes has performed internationally in the Philippines and China. In 2019, she was invited to perform and teach masterclasses as principal of the University of Washington Wind Ensemble on their performance tour of China in Beijing, Chengdu, and Xi’an. Rachel is a graduate of the University of Washington (Bachelor’s in Orchestral Instruments - Flute Performance) and Arizona State University (Master’s in Flute Performance). She has studied with Professor Donna Shin, Dr. Elizabeth Buck, Zart Dombourian-Eby, and Iris Ingram.
Rachel is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Washington where she serves as a Teaching Assistant. At the UW, she performs with the Symphony Orchestra and Modern Music Ensemble. Reyes has taught and led Chamber Music Lab, Studio Classes, Orchestral Excerpt Classes, Woodwind Methods, Modern Music Ensemble, Music Appreciation, and Flute Lessons.
Outside of music, she enjoys tending to her indoor garden and spending time with her family and her dog Pochacco.